We are getting closer!!!
Raylee is continuing to grow she is 6lbs 14 oz.. We are still working on the feedings. It is her last hurdle and it is a big one. She is gettting a blottle once or twice a shift depending on how awake she is. Sometimes she will take over half and other times she just gets her mouth wet. This is very frustrating because the closer we get to the end the more we are ready to take her home. I wish I could just tell her that if she we eat her bottles we could all go home together. We know it will come eventually and all we have is time so we won't rush her she has already done so wonderful on her own she will get this too. Thinking of all of you as we start a new season!!
Kyle & Jane

Sorry it has been so long. I have kinda been lazy this week! Raylee is doing well, she has been turned down a little more on her vapotherm but she is not sure if she is ready for that yet. She is working a little harder to breath so we will see if they leave her or turn her back up a little. she now weighs 6 lbs 10 ozs she is getting so big! We are still working on the feedings. She is getting a bottle once every 12 hours. She will take a full one and then only like 28-35 ccs the next time or two. Overall she is progressing well and we are so proud of her. We are hoping to have her home by halloween. No promises but that is our goal!!! Hope all is well with everyone!

Kyle & Jane

I can't believe it is already time to go home it seems like we just got here. This is going to be hard the next few weeks I hate leaving her.

Raylee wasn't sure what to think of the bottle the first time, but last night she took her first full bottle! It was so cute! She is now 6 lbs 2 oz. I love to just stare at her she is getting so big. She is starting to grow out of some of her preemie clothes.

Raylee has been opening her eyes more and the eye doctors said that everything looks good and they will be back next week to check her again. They will check her every week until the ROP is completely gone then she will only have an exam every two weeks or so until we go home!! They have turned Raylee down again on her vapotherm she is now at 2 1/2 liters. When she gets down to 1-1 1/2 liters they will switch her to low flow cannula which is what she could possibly go home on. She still has some hurdles to overcome before we can think about taking her home but she is doing amazing. We are the luckiest parents!

We made it back to Denver today. Its amazing how much she has grown in 4 days! We introduced her to a bottle today and she didn't want much to do with it. She weighs 5lbs 13oz and is up to 48cc's and tolerating it well. Hopefully in the next couple weeks we can get her to take it by bottle. The eye doctor should be in tomorrow for a check up and I am excited to see what they have to say because she still isn't opening them much since her surgery.

Thank you for all the support.

Miss Raylee is 5 lbs 9 oz now! She is growing right before our eyes! They turned her vapotherm down to 3 liters and she is doing great. We decided to come home and work for a few days so that I can have more time when she gets to come home with us. It is not easy being away from her but I just keep reminding myself that it will be more time with her at home.

Raylee had her follow up eye exam yesterday and everything looked good they will be back in two weeks to check again. She is doing well on her feedings they have bumped her up to 45 cc's over 45 minutes. They also turned her vapotherm down to 3 1/2 liters today and she is doing good on that. She is just amazing!

I had my doctors appt. yesterday as well and she wants to run some follow up blood work in three weeks and go from there. She said her gut feeling is that is just my preeclampsia taking longer than usual to go away. I pray her gut is right.

Thanks for all your love & prayers. We wouldn't be here without you.

Kyle & Jane

First night back in the graduate NICU.

Day after surgery. Poor little eyes...

Raylee is doing well she is back to full feeds and doing good on her vapotherm. They put her on a diuretic today to get any extra fluid off of her. They also are giving her a iron supplement because it was a little low. She is still sleeping quite a bit, but they say all babies recover differently and that she is doing good. She has a follow up eye exam tomorrow to see how she is doing. The few times she has opened her eyes they look pretty sore still, so I am interested to see what they have to say. Thanks for everything!

Love,

Kyle & Jane

Eye surgery day

Today before surgery

We have had a few rough days. The eye doc came in yesterday to do a routine check on Raylee and really didn't like what she saw so she had a second opinion and they agreed that she needed to have eye surgery because her ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) had progressed. The eye surgery wasn't our biggest worry but for her to have surgery she would have to be reintubated and put under which both bring their own issues. Anyways Raylee had surgery today at 10:45 am. The laser surgery went well but her heart rate would not come down afterwards. They tried a few things and weren't having much luck then they decided to give her a little more fluids to see if she was dry and that seems to be doing the trick. Her heart rate is still a little high but it is coming down slowly. Hopefully she will be able to get her tube out tomorrow and go back on her vapotherm. She is such a little fighter!

I had a appointment this week and my protein in my urine is not going back to normal like it should of by now. This is the reason Raylee was born early. They have decided to send me to a nephrologist on Wed. to see how my kidney function is. I guess we will see how that goes.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Kyle & Jane

Graduate Nursery

We made the big move last night. It was a little bitter sweet, but we are now in the graduate nursery-level 2. Raylee is at 4 liters on her vapotherm and still working pretty hard to breathe. They say that before we put her to a bottle they want her to be at 2 or 3 liters and not having to work so hard. She is adjusting well to the move (a little faster then her parents I think).. She received a bath today because she was getting a little stinky. She really enjoyed it! Hope all is well with everyone. We miss you all!